Nice work! We're in the UK and have done several (mainly) DIY renovations - or restorations as I prefer to call them with them all being at least 100 years old - and have lived on site throughout, so understand how stressful it can be. Our quickest complete restoration took three years, so good on you for making such dramatic progress so swiftly :) Spurs me on to get a wiggle on with our current house! Raphaella x

@Holly Stockley - thank you for the feedback. Originally there was no cabinetry/counter space at all on the south wall with a larger pantry and door off the kitchen, instead of in the hallway. But my wife didn't think that would be enough counter space for our small appliances, hence why the layout is the way it is now. Our first thought was the extra space in the garage on the north wall, would be racks for canned goods as another pantry area. However, Anthony's tweaks, moving the oven to create a "baking center" like you have is a very interesting one that we are considering, if there is enough space for a doorway there. @homechef59 Wife also nix'd the extended cabinet idea, but appreciate the door clutter thought. We do primarily stir fries and ingredients are prepared and on a side counter ready to go. I agree there are strong opinions on the offset sink idea, I think I prefer the sink centered with the range for the look of the room. The consolidating of the half and guest bath has been proposed before too. I wanted to do it to save money, but my wife would prefer them apart. This is because if and when a set of in-law's moves in for good, she would like them to have their privacy. As much as they love their grandchildren, having kids in and out of their bathroom would not be optimal. @Anthony C - thank you for the detailed feedback, you have put a lot of thought into it and it has been thought provoking. For the entry situation, I agree and like your changes. I never did quite like the master being right off the foyer, and had thought about, regardless, moving the door where you have it at the moment. I also better like the half bath being off the foyer and on a different hallway than the mudroom area. We could likely put a coat closet on the dining room/foyer wall, taking some room out of the foyer. The challenge here is marrying changes with the external elevations. This is how the current front looks. I like the symmetry of the exterior with the gable in the middle. Front doors are a simple but elegant set of stained double doors. I'm not sure what an entryway to the right as you have proposed would look as the front door would be buried a little in the nook and blocked by the garage. Bank of 3 windows above the current 3 would need to be changed too. If the porch entrance isn't changed, guests would walk up the stairs, past the windows looking into the dining room, and then to the front door. Any thoughts on the outside? We really like your thoughts on the kitchen layout. I agree that moving the oven stack might give a bigger pantry. Question will be how the empty space vacated will look from the greatroom area. The island has had two smaller cabinet (cookie sheet type) added to make the island wider (North south) 6 inches on both sides. We could do wider cabinets but at that point we'd be pushing the size of a jumbo quartz slab. My daughter loves to bake, so putting the oven on that wall would allow her to use the south side of the island as prep and keep her out of the range/sink area. Another question would be how wide we could get the doorway if we moved the oven stack there. Lots to think about here, thanks! @catinthehat, roar11, dan1888 - Thanks for your thoughts. Lots of people would like the kitchen on an outside wall. Due to the width, we could pick two out of three, great room, morning room, or kitchen. We decided the first two were what we'd like. To help with natural light, we have increased the number of windows in the great room and morning room. Also, swapped in sliders instead of windows in the great room and morning room (1 x 15' + 1 x 8') so that there is a nice view while standing at the sink. This is what the rear elevation looks like and this picture was taken at dusk, but should be right at the sink. We are meeting with an interior designer that we will run some of these ideas by, especially the lighting situation thanks for pointing it out Dan. BTW - I wouldn't put some of the perceived drawbacks on the house designer, the kitchen/great room/morning room layout was our request. It mirrors the house we have lived in the last 8 years and are very comfortable with the pros and cons. Could always be improved however, and that's the reason for this thread :)

The elephant in the room is a table shape & size that just doesn't work. You need something smaller, or square or round. I really dislike those signs that are so popular now...unless they're authentic, vintage AND suit the demeanor of the room. Your "bakery" sign is long & narrow & pushed off to the side of the wall. It looks awkward there & should be hung on a smaller wall. Is that your kitchen with the "antiques" sign over the bulkhead? I think that sign might look good on dining area wall. Remove that foliage from the light fixture. No tablecloth.

Have you considered getting rid of most of those pocket doors? In the secondary bath upstairs I would eliminate the second door entirely. (First thing we do on renovation is remove that door, maybe leaving privacy wall only.) Closet doors with regular doors are more likely to be shut. They are extremely easy to screwup on install. If you really dislike clutter, use as few pockets as possible. You’ll be glad you did. With living space below the master suite- make sure you use top of the line sound proofing insulation. This is not the regular insulation. (I don’t recall brand names at the moment.) You might consider doing it everywhere. With kids rooms above living space you will want them to sleep at times when you entertain. What’s the finished height in the garage? What cars do you drive? A twenty foot garage will not hold much. (Definitely no full size truck or SUV ever.) Compact cars might not be what you drive with kids. Do you have bikes, holiday decor, gardening tools? Strollers, camping gear, hobby stuff? An additional two feet of width can make a huge difference. If a powder room was under the stairs and that mud area eliminated, you could add two feet of width in garage. I would put shoe racks in the garage-eventually pretty large racks for the kids outdoor shoes. If you can in the ADU area- frame all door openings at 36”. Consider a curb-less shower area. If you want it accessible those items are what the 70 year olds are putting in their house to age in place. Good luck. Building is always a huge journey.